The Earth’s magnetic field is critical for sustaining our planet’s habitability, deflecting harmful solar radiation. However, the processes generating this field deep within the Earth’s core remain mysterious, hindering our ability to predict its future behavior – a concern given recent observations of relatively rapid changes in the field. This project addresses this fundamental challenge by developing a “digital twin” system for a large-scale laboratory experiment that mimics conditions inside the Earth. The digital twin will allow researchers to operate and optimize complex experiments remotely, explore scenarios inaccessible through physical experimentation alone, and ultimately improve our understanding of the forces shaping the geodynamo – the engine driving Earth’s magnetic field. By creating extensible tools for laboratory science, this research advances computational mathematics, supports training for a new generation of scientists and engineers, and has potential benefits for diverse fields including medical device design and external aerodynamics. This translational science collaborative project between University of Maryland (UM) and University of Illinois creates a digital twin consisting of the 3-meter liquid sodium geodynamo experiment at UM, coupled with advanced numerical modeling schemes based on high-order spectral element methods (Nek5000/RS) and data assimilation techniques including Ensemble Kalman Filters. The research team will develop Reduced Ord